Mumbai: Bharati Shipyard, one of India's major ship-building companies, proposes to acquire a majority stake and management control in Tebma Shipyards Ltd, which has a strong presence in south India. Bharati Shipyard will acquire 51% equity stake in in Tebma Shipyards Ltd for a consideration of Rs. 75.75 crores.

"This significant acquisition of Tebma Shipyards, is of strategic importance to us, as we get access to to their ready-made and modern shipyards at Malpe in Karnataka, Kochi in Kerala and Chengalpet in Tamil Nadu," said P.C. Kapoor, MD, Bharati Shipyard.

With this Tebma's facilities will be readily accessible to Bharati shipyards. Tebma's strategic alliance with Cochin Shipyard Ltd. adds a lot of value to the combined entity.

"The combined Bharati- Tebma entity, with a total of 9 shipyards will now be in a formidable position to offer cost-effective solutions to their global and domestic customers," added Kapoor. Tebma's yards are globally acclaimed and their facilities could be more effectively used to cater to the requirements of customers across the world.

Bharati Shipyard is infusing fresh equity capital into Tebma Shipyards at a price of Rs. 19.20 per share of face value of Rs.10 each, thereby proposing to expand the post-issue equity capital base of Tebma to Rs.77.36 crores. The current equity capital of Tebma Shipyards stands at Rs. 7.78 crores.

The current shareholding pattern is distributed between ICICI Venture at 53% , the existing promoters at 4.93% and the remaining 42% stake with members of public. After the infusion of fresh capital, the equity capital base rises to Rs.77.36 crores with Bharati Shipyard holding 51% and the remaining 49% distributed between ICICI Venture , original promoters and the public.

Tebma was incorporated in 1984 and commenced operations in 1987. the company was initially focused on building tugs and dredgers, however, over the last few years, its focus has shifted to the construction of vessels catering to the offshore E&P industry. The company has built 115 vessels till date catering to the requirements of diverse domestic and international clientele including leading ports, shipping companies, Indian navy, lake authorities and dredging service providers for both the public and the private sector.

The company has a current order book of approximately Rs.750 crores , which mainly consist of vessels required for the global exploration and production sector.

With this acquisition, Bharati will accrue substantial savings in terms of cost and time for construction of such yard facilities. Bharati Shipyards will also have yards in the southern part of India which will lead to a Pan-India presence for Bharati Shipyard and Tebma Shipyards.